Bank of Baroda enters into MOU with Gartner

Gartner an IT research and Advisory firm, are now IT consultants to Bank of Baroda. An MOU to this effect was signed at a recent function in Mumbai. Addressing a press conference here, P S Shenoy, Chairman and MD, Bank of Baroda said that Gartner would be helping BOB in their business and IT strategies for the e-millennium.

Bank of Baroda has computerized over 1200 branches, covering over 72 percent of their Indian business and is well on the way to extend computerization to over 1500 branches, to cover 75 percent of their Indian business by 31st March, 2001.

Bank will expand activities in core banking, Internet banking, myriad of delivery channels-ATMs and KIOSKs, reaching to customers through several one-touch points, using wide area networking.

With the Gartner as their IT consulting group, BOB plans to invest around Rs 250-300 crore in a span of around three years. Shenoy said that they would be investing Rs 50 crore in WAN, Rs 150 crore in core banking and another Rs 50 crore in ATM and Internet banking. At least 1000 branches across the country would be covered, which would complete 80-90 percent of the computerization process of BOB. It has also introduced OMNIBOB- cash management services for customer convenience would cover 250 branches in seven cities by March 2001. 

Speaking on the occasion, Partha Iyengar Country Manager, Gartner group revealed that this is the first strategic consulting alliance with a bank.